Cruden Bay victorious in the Connaught Cup (Michael Burns)
Chris Lomon/Woodbine Communications
TORONTO— Don MacRae trainee Cruden Bay notched his first stakes score, taking Saturday’s $175,000 bet365 Connaught Cup (G2T) at Woodbine.
A pair of Mark Casse trainees, First Empire and Capture the Lion (supplemented to the race) were one-two in the early going, while Sofia Vives, aboard Cruden Bay, had the bay settled into last of eight through an opening quarter in :23.61 in the seven-furlong event for 3-year-olds and up contested over a E.P. Taylor turf listed as good.
The Casse duo continued to set the tone through a half in :45.97, followed by Saratoga Flash and War Bomber (IRE), with Cruden Bay still running along in eighth.
When the field turned for home, it was anyone’s game.
War Bomber burst through to take the lead mid-way down the lane, but Cruden Bay had also found an opening and began to gather momentum in the late going.
At the wire, Cruden Bay, whose only other stakes appearance was a fourth in Steady Growth Stakes last December, got up to post a neck win in a time of 1:21.27. War Bomber finished 3 ¾ lengths ahead of third-place finisher Ironstone. Capture the Lion was fourth.
Vives, who rode the son of Big Screen-Executive Affair for the first time on June 1 (a win at seven furlongs on the E.P. Taylor), heaped praise on the gelding.
“Down the lane, you just got to give him one clear run and not get him stopped up,” said Vives, the 2023 Sovereign winner as Canada’s champion apprentice. “Today, I got the rail trip. It was a perfect trip. It played out great. There were three horses in front of us and two next to us, and they split just perfectly. They parted perfectly. He’s one that you have to tell him what to do, and he listens, and he did just that today.”
MacRae was equally elated with the stirring score courtesy of the $33,822 purchase at the 2019 CTHS Canadian-bred Yearling Sale.
“I was I was jumping up and down. I mean, the thing about him is he needs the whole stretch to get there. If you look for him, he knows how to win by a nose, and he tries all the way. And when she punched out, I knew he was coming.”
With the victory, Cruden Bay, owned by Michael Lay, and bred in Ontario by Spring Farm, is now 7-9-1 from 22 lifetime starts.
“I would just like to say I am really happy for Michael Lay and my team,” said MacRae. “He’s had this horse since he was a baby, and he deserves this.”
Cruden Bay paid $10.50 for the win.
